Evans expects tough encounter with Morecambe

Mansfield boss Steve Evans is under no illusions as to how tough Saturday’s visit of Morecambe will be as the Stags aim for a first win - and goal - in three games.

Jim Bentley’s men arrive off the back of a crucial 2-1 win over Barnet last weekend and currently lie 20th in League Two, 11 points behind Mansfield.

But Evans says he has a lot of respect for Bentley and his squad and that a difficult challenge awaits, one that will be very different to that posed by Yeovil last weekend.

He said: “I think Morecambe are a better team than Yeovil, that’s my opinion and people around the league may disagree, but Jim Bentley and his staff are very experienced and they have some good players, including the likes of Kevin Ellison who I love to bits.

“They’ll come here and they’ll work hard but we’ve got to believe we can dominate the ball and do damage.”

Evans, meanwhile, has reflected on the first half of the season as being a frustrating one but believes Stags are in a good position to push for promotion.

He said: “It’s been frustrating as there’s no doubt we should be seven or eight points better off which would have put us up to around third position which is where we probably should be.

“But we’re not and have to keep working hard and see where it takes us. We’ve always said we’ll be much better in the second half of the season and I expected us to be in the top seven when we sat down for Christmas Day and we still have a chance to do that despite our frustrations.

“We have four very tough games over Christmas and new year to contend with now and whilst every game is pivotal, we need to get back to winning ways and this is a good time of year to do it.”